FACT: Direct mail fundraising is alive and well

Evidence: In 1995 the A.B. Data Group and The Mellman Group conducted a national survey. It included 800 progressive direct mail donors. They found that these top tier donors were on average, 65 years old. About 40% would pass away in 10 years. Not good news for nonprofits.

In 2007 A.B. Data and Mellman conducted the same survey. But this time they sampled 600 direct mail donors and 600 e-mail donors.

Eureka! The survey results mirrored the one taken 12 years earlier. A new generation of donors had been found. The average age was now 68. They discovered that direct mail fundraising was a life cycle, not a generational, phenomenon.

More importantly, a whole new segment of online donors had emerged. This added a new pool of potential contributors for political and nonprofit causes that could be reached by e-mail. It added the multi-channel approach of direct mail plus e-mail.

The 2007 survey also found that 33% of online donors will also give through the mail. But, 67% of this segment will not respond to mail. Similarly, 22% of direct mail donors will also give online, but the other 78% will not respond to e-mail.

The conclusion is obvious. You will not maximize response unless you use both channels. Direct mail provides at least 15 times more donor revenue than online. But, multi-channel donors contribute over 2.5 times more than their single channel counterparts.

Conclusion: There are enormous multi-channel opportunities out there for smart direct marketers with open minds. The direct marketing strategies that work in “nonprofit efforts”will almost always work in the “for-profit”world too!